Post-discharge pain management following elective primary total hip and total knee arthroplasty on patients discharged to home on pod 5 or earlier from an acute care facility

SummaryThis study explores the patient experience of post-operative pain management after discharge home from hospital following primary Total Joint Arthroplasty (TJA) on post-operative day 5 or earlier. The aims of the study were to determine pain scores of participants, assess patient’s satisfaction, the amount of prescribed analgesic tablets taken in the first 5 days post-discharge and assess the association between pain scores and the number of tablets taken, controlling for age and gender.Patients were given a Pain Self Assessment Form and asked to complete it for five days after discharge. Eighty-five out of 98 eligible patients returned their survey by mail.Results indicated that participants who had a right total knee arthroplasty had the highest pain scores (4.4/10) and used the most analgesics. Sixty-nine percent of participants reported that they were satisfied with their level of pain from Post-Operative Day (POD) 5–9. Females were less satisfied and consumed more analgesics. Participants younger than 65 years of age reported lower pain scores and used more analgesics.